Hi everyone, I love all the ideas that Penny has shared so far, and for this week 2 discussion, I’d like to focus on...

Hi everyone, I love all the ideas that Penny has shared so far, and for this week 2 discussion, I’d like to focus on one particular idea of using pictures for students to say as many things as they can about them in a given time. Here I want to try to outline a possible modification of the activity:

1. Students are asked to take a picture of an activity they see outside the class using their cellphone or find a picture (of an activity) on the internet and save it on their gadget.
2. Students then edit the photo in such a way that it doesn’t show a full capture of the activity (making it mysterious), but they should still keep the original version of the photo.
3. Students are put in groups(of 3-5 students, ideally) and each member of the group takes turns showing the photo while others try to guess what’s in the picture by using Y/N questions. They can either limit the time or the number of the questions asked. At the end, whether their friends can or cannot guess the activity in the picture, the student showing their gadget should reveal the original photo. The group member who can guess first gets a point. And the one who gets the most points wins the game.
4. The next step after all photos have been revealed in each group, is they pick the most interesting one (the original photo). And using this photo, all the groups in class challenge each other to say as many related things or ideas about the photo in full sentences in 2 minutes.
5. Each member works together to contribute ideas for the picture shown by another group.
6. A secretary in each group counts how many ideas mentioned, and announces which group has the most ideas for his/her group’s picture.

For those who read this post, I'd love to hear your comments, thoughts, or other alternative suggestions for this activity. Thanks.

Comments

  1. Steven HerderNovember 17, 2017 at 11:15 PM

    Sounds Great, ＋Nina. I'm not good at imagining how to tweak other people's ideas that I've never tried, but I like this idea and if I try it sometime this month, I'll observe students doing it and certainly be flooded with ideas at that point!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Scott van LeenenNovember 17, 2017 at 11:41 PM

    talk about personalizing an activity! Great idea, even if you don't tweak the picture!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jasmine TaiwoNovember 18, 2017 at 1:00 AM

    This is a very targeted activity and I can see the Ss really embracing this one. It is interested for the teacher as well.

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  4. Julia BlinovaNovember 18, 2017 at 6:21 AM

    Nina Septina The activity sounds like a lot of fun. Have you tried it yourself?
    As I don't teach groups, I can't really use your suggestion, but I do something like this too. Usually I show my students some unusual photos I've taken (and have loads as I'm an Instagram maniac) or parts of them and challenge them to guess as many things about the pictures as possible. Of course, at the end I tell them the real story. This usually inspires my students to do the same for me. And let me tell you, a lot of fun has been had this way (along with great exam practice ;)

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  5. Nina SeptinaNovember 19, 2017 at 2:15 AM

    Steven Herder Thanks! and let me know how it goes if you try it sometime this month ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nina SeptinaNovember 19, 2017 at 2:17 AM

    Scott van Leenen Thanks! My students got really engaged every time they can use their cellphone for class activities, it's like bringing their world to learning.

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  7. Nina SeptinaNovember 19, 2017 at 2:20 AM

    Jasmine Taiwo, Indeed it's motivating for students and the teacher too, Thank you! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nina SeptinaNovember 19, 2017 at 2:41 AM

    Julia Blinova Thanks! Good to know you've tried something like this too! and yes, I've tried this with my students (procedure no. 1-3) and it was such great fun. As for the procedure no 4-6, these steps are adapted from one of Penny's techniques shared in week 2 , and I plan to try the whole procedure sometime next week. Btw, I'm interested in your saying that you used this for the exam practice too, I'd like to know more about it ;)

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  9. Julia BlinovaNovember 19, 2017 at 3:01 AM

    Nina Septina Great to hear the students loved it. If it's no trouble, let us know how the whole activity goes.
    As for pictures for exam practice, I teach for the Russian State Exam which has two picture tasks: one is describing a picture and the other one is comparing and contrasting two pictures. So teaching for the first task is pretty straightforward - any 'describe the picture' activities help. As the exam focuses a lot on accuracy, I 'drill' the Present Continuous and there is/are along with prepositions of place and other cliches this way. It's more fun than just working with pictures from books.
    As for the second task, I have not tried this activity yet, but I believe it will work. After completing a topic, I ask my student to choose a photo connected with it and I bring one myself. Then we compare and contrast them. There's nothing particularly special about the activity, but in my experience personalisation goes a long way.
    There is one more activity I want to try, as another part of the exam is asking 5 questions about an advertisement (which is presented in the form of a picture too with some question prompts below). I plan to choose an advertisement, but cover all the text. So the students have to ask me questions about the product advertised to 'uncover' the text. What do you think?

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  10. Phil BrownNovember 19, 2017 at 4:59 AM

    Love it! Definitely a keeper from the sounds of things!

    ReplyDelete

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